Sunset Park Library & Affordable Housing Project

Organization Name: Fifth Avenue Committee, Inc.

Project Title: Sunset Park Library & Affordable Housing Project

Project Location: Sunset Park, Brooklyn

Project Description:
Fifth Avenue Committee (FAC) is partnering with the Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) and the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development to expand the Sunset Park Public Library branch while creating 49 new units of deeply and permanently affordable housing. Developed in partnership with the New York State Homes and Community Renewal, FAC and BPL’s innovative project will provide Sunset Park with a modern, state-of-the-art public library that is nearly twice the size of the previous library, while simultaneously creating 49 new deeply affordable apartments in a pioneering shared-use model that is the first of its kind in New York City. Fifth Avenue Committee is constructing the eight-story, mixed-use building, including the library’s core and shell, at no cost to Brooklyn Public Library. BPL will fit out the new library using a portion of the proceeds from the redevelopment of its Brooklyn Heights branch. The City will own the library in perpetuity, as it does the current branch.

Community Impact:
The Sunset Park branch is one of Brooklyn’s busiest libraries, with attendance that ranks in the top 10 of Brooklyn Public Library’s 59 branches. Built in 1972, the former building was too small to meet the needs of one of Brooklyn’s fastest growing communities and required more than $6 million in repairs. The new library will occupy more than 20,000 square feet of the new building and be outfitted for the modern era, with the collections, technology and flexible space needed to accommodate many uses & serve a large, diverse group of patrons.

The new building will also include 49 deeply affordable homes above the library, with a mix of studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. All of the housing created will be 100% affordable, with apartments being affordable to tenants with incomes spanning 30-80% of Area Median Income (AMI). The majority of the units are reserved for incomes at or below 50% of AMI, and a portion of the apartments will be reserved for city employees, persons with physical disabilities and formerly homeless households. This is the first affordable family housing being developed in Sunset Park, one of the most rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods in the city, in over 20 years.

Organization Description:
Fifth Avenue Committee is a 41-year-old comprehensive community development corporation & chartered NeighborWorks member based in South Brooklyn that advances economic & social justice by building vibrant, diverse communities where residents have genuine opportunities to achieve their goals and the power to shape the community’s future. FAC works to transform the lives of over 5,500 low- and moderate-income New Yorkers annually so that all can all live & work with dignity & respect while making our community more equitable, sustainable, inclusive & just.

Team Members:

Architects: Magnusson Architecture & Planning, PC
Contractor: Galaxy G.C. Group, LLC
Attorneys: Hirschen Singer & Epstein LLP

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